You're a Good Man, Draco Malfoy
by Potterwatcher
Summary: ON HIATUS. Draco doesn't hate muggleborns or muggles, and Harry finds out. Is the real Draco actually... nice? And what's with the big black dog that's been following and guarding them? (Takes place in 3rd year)
1. An Unlikely Friendship

**A/N: This starts in third year, on the first Hogsmeade day. FYI, this will be Harry/Draco slash eventually, so those of you who don't like it, DON'T READ! Those of you who love HD slash, read on! **

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling is my idol, and as much as I want to be her, I'm not, never have been, and never will be *sobs uncontrollably*, and I do not make any money off of this. I don't own anything except the plot.**

* * *

Harry walked down the halls of Hogwarts under his invisibility cloak on his way to the secret passage. He was glad that the twins had given him the marauder's map; otherwise he would have been stuck at the school for all of the Hogsmeade weekends. He glanced down at the map and was surprised to see Draco Malfoy's name on it, pacing on the third floor next to some statue. All of a sudden, Malfoy's dot disappeared.

"Bloody hell," Harry whispered. What was Malfoy even doing in Hogwarts on a Hogsmeade weekend? And how was it even possible to disappear from the map? Whatever Malfoy was up to, he had to find out. And with that, he changed directions and went towards the spot where Malfoy had disappeared.

* * *

When he arrived in the hall, it was exactly the same as it always was. Just in case, Harry looked around to see if there were any openings in the walls where a secret passage could be hidden. Frustrated when he didn't find anything, he started pacing. 'I have to find where Malfoy went' he thought as he paced and was surprised to see a muggle-looking doorway appear. He cautiously opened it and peered inside. It looked like any normal muggle household, except for the books. The amount of books in itself wasn't surprising, it looked to be about average, what really surprised him was what the books where about. They all had something to do with muggles. _A Wizard's Guide to a Muggle Household, Muggles 101, Muggle Fashion throughout the ages, _and _A Squib's Guide to Being a Muggle _were just a few of the titles. He continued walking until he found what looked like the living room, and stopped dead in his tracks. There, sitting on a couch, reading _A Basic Guide of Muggles for Dummies,_ was Draco Malfoy.

Harry whipped off his invisibility cloak "Who are you and what have you done with Malfoy?" He demanded, only half joking.

Malfoy looked up, obviously shocked to see Harry "What the hell are you doing here Potter!?" he yelled "Get out of here you, uh, pathetic half-blood!"

"Can you really call me a pathetic half-blood when you're reading books like that?" Harry asked, "And did you just hesitate with an insult? It's a miracle: Malfoy might be starting to think about his words!" He continued, allowing his Slytherin side to show for once.

"My father wants me to research mudbloods and muggles so that I can see for myself how inferior they are to purebloods," Malfoy sneered, though not at all with his usual vigor.

"Oh, so if an anonymous owl were sent to your father telling him exactly what you've been doing and asking about this 'project', he would know about it and be fine with it?"

"Oh buggering hell," Malfoy muttered before looking up "Listen Potter, you can't tell _anyone_ about this, not even Granger and the Weasel." Harry raised his brow at Hermione's last name, noting the absence of an insult pertaining to her bloodline. "I don't hate muggleborns," Malfoy continued "I have to keep up the façade of hating them in public though. Sorry about all the insults by the way, it's like I said earlier, I have to keep up appearances, and if you tell anyone about this, I will deny it and hex you seven ways to Sunday."

"Okay, I can believe that." Harry replied, going back into Gryffindor mode.

"What kind of a Gryffindor could get that out of me?" Malfoy muttered under his breathe.

"Simple," Harry replied "The type that almost got sorted into Slytherin."

Malfoy looked up in shock "You're kidding! The sorting hat almost put you, Dumbledore's golden boy, in the house of the snakes?"

Harry shrugged "The hat said that Slytherin house would help me on my way to greatness. I just kept thinking 'not Slytherin, not Slytherin,', and it put me in Gryffindor."

"Why didn't you want to be put in Slytherin?"

"Well, they didn't exactly look like a pleasant lot, and the only experience I'd had with a Slytherin wasn't exactly a pleasant one."

Malfoy groaned "Of course. The only reason that we didn't have Harry freaking Potter, the boy who lived, in Slytherin, is me. That sure is a great confidence booster."

Harry laughed "Well, it did kind of work in my favor. I mean, the only reason that people even doubted that I was the heir of Slytherin last year was because I was a Gryffindor. It's kind of funny though, because I thought it was you who was the heir at first."

"You thought it was me?" Malfoy burst out laughing "You're kidding. How did you figure out that it wasn't?"

"Er, well," Harry looked sheepish "Hermione, uh, might have brewed the polyjuice potion, and Ron and I might have pretended to be Crabbe and Goyle, and wemighthavesnuckintotheSlytherincommon-roomtotalktoyou." He mumbled, saying the last bit in a rush.

"…ha…haha…hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Malfoy burst out laughing again.

"Crap, I broke Malfoy." Harry said to no one in particular.

"Sorry," Malfoy said, struggling to stop laughing, "I just realized exactly why you were put in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Harry responded dryly. Before Malfoy could respond, a bell started chiming. "What's that?" Harry asked

"That's my alarm. I set it to 10 minutes before everyone was due to return from Hogsmeade." Malfoy replied.

"Is it really that time already?" Harry asked, amazed at how quickly the time had flown by.

"Yeah, you'd better go back to the lion's den," Malfoy sighed "Before they realize that you're gone."

"Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were sad to see me go." Harry teased.

"Well, you aren't that bad Potter," Malfoy said, surprising both Harry and himself.

"You're not that bad either Malfoy." Harry responded

"Truce? In private, of course," Malfoy asked

"Truce. But, if we aren't going to hate each other, then we should call each other by our given names."

"Alright, Harry."

"Alright, Draco."

"Same time, same place tomorrow?" Draco asked

"Yeah, speaking of which, what is this place?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. For now, we have to get back to our houses. You go first. I'll leave in a few minutes. We can't afford to be seen together."

"For now," Harry grinned, and then rushed out.

"Prat," Draco said with a smile as he waved farewell.

* * *

**A/N: I was just thinking, hey, what if Draco didn't hate muggles and muggleborns, what if he was fascinated by them, and what if Harry found out? As you can tell, I have no life, so naturally, I live vicariously through books and writing. Please R&amp;R (Rate and Review, for you Fanfiction noobs like me) and tell me what you think. P.S. I CAN take criticism, and I'm always looking to improve my writing. If I do something wrong, tell me! Until next time, bye!**


	2. A Very Grim Halloween

**A/N: Oh My Wizard God, I have 158 views, 4 great reviews, and 0 not-great reviews! Thankyouthankyouhankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouhankyouthankyouthankyou!**

**brooke- Thank you, I just thought that Draco was putting a little too much effort into being the perfect pureblood for nothing else to be going on.**

**Harry1675- Thanks, me too! When I saw your review, I was having the worst writer's block ever, and had absolutely no idea where to take this, so we'll wait together.**

**Lestrange36- We can be alone together! And no, you didn't sound rude at all, I take it as a compliment! I hope I don't disappoint…**

**invisibleCheshire- Thank you for the advice, but I was thinking, hey, Harry's a Gryffindor, why not let him trust easily, but your comment on how quickly it was progressing does make a lot of sense. I was actually going through some very bad writer's block as to where I was going to go with this, but when I saw your review, it gave me an idea, so I'm dedicating this chapter to you! P.S. Canon gets a little boring after you've read all the books five times!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, then Sirius would be alive and somehow Snape, Dumbledore, and/or Voldemort would end up in bright pink tutus and/or raindeer suits. Yes, I just said that.**

* * *

Harry slowed down once he was out of sight. Should he really be trusting Malfoy, just because he read a couple of books on muggles? 'It could be a trick, a way to gain my trust and ship me off to Moldywort at the first opportunity.' he tried to convince himself. But somehow, he suspected that that wasn't the case. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he was already at the portrait of the Fat Lady. As soon as he stepped inside the common room he was ambushed by Ron and Hermione.

"Bloody hell, mate! Where've you been?" Ron asked quickly, obviously crazed on sweets.

"Language, Ron!" Hermione butted in.

"Hello Ron, hello 'Mione. How was Hogsmeade?" Harry asked distractedly. His friends didn't seem to notice as they happily prattled on about how great Hogsmeade was and how wonderful Honeydukes was "They have all the candies you can imagine Harry, anything you can think of, they have it!"

Harry was so distracted that when they entered the Great Hall for dinner he had to ask what the decorations were for.

Ron looked stricken and said "Blimey, have you been living on another planet? It's Halloween!"

while Hermione just looked at him suspiciously.

"Harry, are you feeling alright?" she asked him, feeling his forehead to see if it was warm.

"Oh don't worry, those are just the nargles clouding his thoughts," a dreamy voice said from behind them. "It's a bit odd though, normally they nest in mistletoe because of the vibes they get from first love. Malfoy's head is surrounded by them too." She added, more to herself than them.

"Yeah, it's the nargles that are odd." Ron muttered under his breathe.

Hermione rolled her eyes and elbowed him before saying "Hello Luna, how are you? And for the last time, nargles do not exist."

"Yes they do, they just prefer for humans not to see them."

"You're a human too, you know." Hermione pointed out exasperatedly

"Who said that I was completely human?" Luna asked before gliding away

"What does she mean, not completely human?" Harry asked

"Well, she is a pureblood, and from what I've read about purebloods in our History of Magic textbook, it was once considered extremely elite to have a humanoid magical creature married into the family. I wouldn't be surprised if she did have some creature blood in her veins, though I still refuse to believe in nargles." Hermione said stubbornly

"It would explain why she's completely barmy," Ron said

"Goodness Ronald, do you have to be so snarky!" Hermione scolded "Honestly, you're starting to sound like Malfoy!"

"I am not! You're always taking things so seriously, Mione, it was just a joke!"

Before Hermione could respond, Harry cut in "Wizard God, you guys, Hermione, you should lighten up a little, and Ron, you should be a little nicer." He loved his two friends to death, but sometimes they made him want to tear his hair out.

"Wizard God?" Hermione asked

Harry turned bright red "Well, um, you see, uh, when I came into the wizarding world, I thought a lot about what the muggles' god would say about it, and I kind of thought that there must be a separate god for wizards. I know now that there isn't, but still, it kind of stuck in my head."

Ron started laughing so hard he nearly spit his pumpkin juice across the table. Harry just glared at him until he finally shut up. "C'mon mate, I was just having a bit of fun!" Ron complained before finishing his treacle tart. "Ugh, I'm stuffed, let's head up to the common room."

"Wait, did I hear that right, Ronald Bilius Weasley, the Shaggy Rogers of the wizarding world, is done eating? It's a miracle! C'mon Harry, let's get him out of here before he changes his mind!" Hermione said sarcastically before they stood up and left.

"Who's Shaggy?" Ron asked, and on the way to the common room Harry and Hermione tried to explain who Shaggy was, but when they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, however, they stopped dead in their tracks in shock. The portrait had been ripped to shreds and the Fat Lady herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Hermione, you get Professor Dumbledore, Ron and I will stay here and make sure that whoever, or whatever, did this doesn't come back." Harry said with a voice of steel. Hermione, still in shock, nodded and hurriedly obeyed. Harry stepped back to see the full extent of the damage and saw that the slashes weren't random like they appeared, they were in the shape of what looked like… a dog? His mouth dropped open. No, not just any dog. A grim.

* * *

**A/N: I know that this might not make sense, but it was necessary. Luna was giving some foreshadowing as to something that might be revealed in a couple of school years (If I make this a series) and I needed a situation like this to set something up that I can't tell you about yet! Sorry to be so ridiculously vague, but you'll find out what I mean soon, I promise. Also, please R&amp;R, so that I know to fix mistakes, wherever they may be! Until I stalk see you again, bye!**


	3. Snuffles

**A/N: Hi guys! The plot bunnies attacked me in my sleep again, so naturally I wrote down everything they told me to. I don't really have anything to say, so happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: If I claimed to own Harry Potter, I would be locked in a mental facility... Yeah. I don't own any of it except for the plot, so please don't sue me!**

* * *

This day couldn't get any worse. Harry had been up until 1 A.M. in the morning, answering questions and repeating over and over again that all he saw was the shredded portrait, and no, he hadn't seen who had done it. To top it off, he still had to finish the transfiguration essay that he was planning on finishing after dinner, so it was 3 A.M. before he finally went to bed. Add double potions with Snape first thing in the morning, and you get one very unhappy Harry. 'No,' he concluded 'This day really can't get much worse,'

"Hey Potter," a very familiar voice drawled behind from behind him "Have a run in with Black, did you? I would have thought that Dumbledore's golden boy would be more eager for revenge."

'Screw you karma!' Harry sighed before turning around "Really, Malfoy? Why would I go after Black? I mean, nobody in the tower was hurt except for the Fat Lady, and she just needs to be restored."

Malfoy stared at him before responding "You mean you don't know? Black is the one who betrayed your parents to the dark lord. He's the reason that they're dead!"

"You listen, Malfoy, you're a buggering idiot who couldn't tell the truth if you were under veritaserum. Leave me alone, and go back to your gorilla guards."

"10 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for threatening another student." Snape's voice came from behind. Geez, what was it with people coming up from behind him today? "Sit down, before I take another 10 points for being late. Now today if you dunderheads can manage to pay attention, we will be reading about the wolfsbane potion. Blah blahblah blah blah blah…" Snape droned on as Harry's attention wondered. What the hell did Malfoy mean, Black betrayed his parents? It did make sense, though. It certainly explained why everyone kept telling him to stay in the castle and be safe and all that rot. But should he even believe him? Yesterday he had acted like a decent bloke, but now he was back to his usual snarky self. He would confront him later, he decided.

* * *

Harry paced in the hallway where the room had appeared. 'I need to find that bloody room!' he thought angrily as he walked and was surprised to see a door appear. It was different than the first one, and when he went in he was greeted by a cheery room kind of like the Gryffindor common room, complete with a roaring fire in the fireplace and a large black… dog? No, not just any dog, it was the dog that he had seen when he left the Dursley's! A grim! Before he could pull out his wand, the dog was on top of him, but instead of biting his face off like he expected, the big fellow was licking him and slobbering all over him. He managed to sit up, pushing the dog off of him. Harry was so busy trying to figure out how the dog had gotten there that he failed to notice Malfoy walking in.

"Potter? Hello? Umm, hate to break it to you, but there's a giant dog who looks like he wants to kill me." Malfoy's voice came across the room. Harry looked up and saw that the large dog was indeed growling at him, and if looks could kill, Malfoy would not be in very good health.

"Down, boy. Leave Malfoy alone. Let me interrogate him before you eat him." He said to the dog, who looked strangely happy at the thought of eating Malfoy. Wait, Malfoy… "Malfoy! What the hell were you doing! I thought we had a truce!" Harry bellowed "I had no idea that Black was the one who gave my parents away to Moldy Pants! You thought that the best way for me to find that out was to tell me in front of the entire class? What is wrong with you?"

Malfoy looked strangely pensive "I thought you knew. After all, it is the reason people seem so obsessed with your safety this year." He answered quietly. "And what's with the dog?"

"I dunno, he was here when I got in. AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT ON ME, DRACONIS LUCIUS MALFOY!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I have to keep up my public image, to protect my family!" Draco spat, before continuing with a smirk "And did you seriously call You Know Who Moldy Pants? I didn't know you had it in you. And how did you know my full name? Have you been looking me up?"

"No! Well, okay, yes. Happy now?" Harry turned bright red before quickly changing the subject "And do you have any theories as to how the dog got in here?"

"No, he must have gotten here by himself. This is the Room of Requirement, you know."

"The what?"

"The Room of Requirement. When you pace outside the hallway, thinking about something you need, a room will appear fully equipped with with what you needed."

"So that's why it didn't show up on the map," Harry muttered under his breathe

"What about a map?"

"Erm, nothing… So the dog got in here because he was pacing in the hallway thinking about something he needed?"

"I guess. And we really shouldn't just call him 'the dog', I mean, he is an animal. We should probably give him a name."

"I vote Snuffles,"

"What? Why in Salazar's name would you want to name him Snuffles?"

"That's what he did when I walked in, he snuffled me."

"Is that even a word?"

"Yes!" Harry cried indignantly "It means to slobber, sniff, and snuggle."

Rolling his eyes, Malfoy said "Fine. If he likes it, we'll call him Snuffles."

"Snuffles, go tackle Malfoy!"

"Ack!" Malfoy cried as he fell to the ground under the mass of fur that was now officially Snuffles "You'll pay for that one, Potter!" Harry just laughed at him. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad day after all.

* * *

**A/N: Hehehe, I enjoyed that waaaaaayy too much… But did you? Please R&amp;R, and let me know what you think. Hasta la pasta!**


	4. Harry gets a 'Familiar'

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner, I was writing a new story that just wouldn't get out of my head!**

* * *

Harry smirked as Malfoy attempted to get Snuffles off of him.

"Potter, get your arse over here and help me with this bloody menace!" The aforementioned boy yelled. "Honestly, why does this bugger listen to you but hate me?"

"Probably because he has good taste,"

"Git," Malfoy murmured under his breath as he finally managed to get Snuffles off. "Oh, shite! It's past curfew. Filch will skin us alive if he catches us!"

"It's okay, Filch won't catch us."

"It's all fine and dandy for you, you have an invisibility cloak. How am I supposed to get back to the dungeons? And do you even have your cloak with you?"

"No, I don't." Harry bit his lip as he thought about the map and whether or not he should tell Mal- Draco "Okay, I'm going to show you something that only five people in this school know about. You've got to swear not to tell anybody ANYTHING about it, okay?"

Malfoy was intrigued. What could be so special that even Ha- Potter was being secretive? "Okay. I swear. No one who doesn't already know about it will hear anything. Will you show me this mysterious thingy now?" Harry smiled and took out the map. "Uh, Potter, I hate to break it to you, but that's an old piece of parchment."

"It's not just any old piece of parchment!" Harry said as he unfolded it. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He continued as he tapped it with his wand.

"Oh my Wizard God! Where did you get this?!" Malfoy exclaimed as he looked it over. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"You believe in Wizard God too?" Harry exclaimed, suddenly not feeling quite so silly about his lapse in common sense.

"That's what you focused on?" Malfoy asked as he turned slightly pink "Seriously, what is this? And why aren't we on it?"

"This is the Marauder's Map. I have no idea who the Marauders actually were, just what their nicknames were, but they created it. It shows where everyone in Hogwarts is, except for people in the ROR. This is how I knew where you were during the Hogsmeade weekend."

"I was wondering about that. It really shows everyone? Look, there's Uncle Sev- Professor Snape!"

"Uncle Severus?"

"He's my godfather,"

"I'm so sorry…"

"Hey! He's not that bad when you get to know him."

"Yeah, and I'm one of those wrackspurts that Luna's always talking about."

"Well, we'd have to ask her to find out." Malfoy smirked and they both started laughing. Even Snuffles looked like he was amused by the joke. It was kind of creepy how much that dog acted like a human.

"I'm serious though, we-" Draco was cut off by Snuffles, who was howling with laughter. Again. Weird. Draco cleared his throat and tried again "We've got to get back to our dorms. See, Weasley and Granger are waiting up for you." It was true, according to the map, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the common room, probably waiting for him.

"Okay. Filch is over by the owlery, and Mrs. Norris is by the Great Hall, so if you, go down one of the far staircases you should be in the clear."

"In the clear? Is that a muggle phrase?"

"Yes, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. Now, like you said, we really should get going. Personally, I like not having detention."

"Okay, see you later Pot- Harry."

"Bye Draco."

* * *

"Harry, where have you been? We've been worried sick!" Was all Harry heard before he was nearly knocked over by a mass of brown hair, also known as Hermione.

"Yeah mate, what's up with you disappearing all the time?" Ron asked bluntly.

"I was, er, in the library, trying to umm," Harry was suddenly hit with a stroke of brilliance "Find out stuff about wizard custody laws." He finished, knowing that this would keep Ron busy avoiding the him for fear of the library and Hermione busy with trying to out-research him.

"Oh, that's brilliant, Harry! You might be able to get away from the Dursleys. What did you find?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Not much. I was busy trying to avoid Madam Pince and her fury."

"Oh, that's too bad. Tomorrow, Ron and I will help you out, right Ron?"

"Erm, actually, I've got to finish that Transfiguration essay that's due in a couple of days."

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded "Please tell me that you've at least started it."

"Umm," Was all Ron said. As Hermione scolded him about 'taking his studies more seriously' Harry smiled to himself. At least some things never changed.

* * *

As Harry was walking out of the portrait hole the next morning with Ron and Hermione, he was knocked to the ground by a mass of black fur. "Snuffles? What are you doing here, boy?"

"Harry, what's up with the giant dog?" Ron asked. That boy was the king of bluntness.

"Oh, um, this is awkward. Hermione and Ron, meet Snuffles. Snuffles, meet Hermione and Ron." Snuffles once again proved how utterly _human_ he was by prancing up to Hermione and lifting his paw as if to shake her hand. Baffled, Hermione's good manners kicked in and she shook his paw. After he had done the same to Ron, Snuffles padded back over to Harry's side.

"Harry, where did he come from?" Hermione asked.

"That's an excellent question Hermione, I'll tell you the answer as soon as I find out myself."

"And how do you know his name is Snuffles?"

"I, um, ran into him last night when I was on my way back from the library, and I gave him a few pieces of treacle tart from dinner. I called him Snuffles, and he responded, so I'm assuming that that's his name." Lieing was becoming way too easy for him.

"But how on Earth could a dog have gotten through Hogwarts' defences, especially with all the extra stuff they're doing this year?" Ron interjected

"Honestly Ronald, aren't you ever going to read _Hogwarts, A History_?"

"Why would I when you've memorised it?"

"Ugh. Because, it states very clearly in Hogwarts, A History, that the castles' wards will only keep out those who have ill will towards the castle and/or its inhabitants, or non-magical creatures. A fluffy dog does not count as a threat to Hogwarts security, so he wouldn't have a problem getting in, as long as he was magical."

"That explains why he's so smart." Harry mused aloud.

Hermione gasped "Guys, breakfast is nearly over! If we don't get to the Great Hall soon, we won't have time to eat, and _we'll be late for class_."

"Bloody hell, let's get going!" Ron yelled, running down towards the Great Hall to ensure that he would have time to eat.

"Okay, okay. Ron, wait up!" Harry yelled as he and Hermione ran after the redhead.

When they reached the Great Hall, they stopped to catch their breath. Before they entered, they noticed that Snuffles had followed them there and seemed determined not to be separated from Harry.

"Well Harry," Hermione sighed "It seems like you've gotten yourself a familiar."

"Aren't the only pets allowed at Hogwarts a rat, a cat, or a toad?" Harry asked.

"Honestly," Hermione rolled her eyes "Boys. That list is only for first years. This is why you need to read more."

"I suppose this means I should order some dog food-" Harry started to say but stopped at the glare that Snuffles gave him. "Okay, looks like Snuffles is going to eat human food instead." He sighed and turned to his friends "C'mon, let's get the stares and stuff over with."

"What do you mean, mate?" Ron asked.

"If I were a normal student, no one would care if I got a familiar, but _no_. Everyone's going to put up a huge fuss about it just because I'm Harry Potter."

"Harry's right, let's get this over with." Hermione interrupted, and with a sigh Harry turned and entered the Great Hall with his friends.

* * *

**A/N: So sorry for the long delay, I've been busy with the necessary evil know as school. Yeah. Please R&amp;R and tell me what you think, it helps me write faster!**


	5. Padfoot?

**A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating as much as I should, I'm a horrible person. For those of you who haven't looked at my profile, I set up an email account, potterwatcherfanfiction , for all things related to fanfiction. I wanted to just make it potterwatcher, but that was already taken. Some of the ways some of the characters act in this might not make a lot of sense, but I promise, it will if you read the A/N at the end of this chapter. P.S. The words in the story in bold and italics are quoted from the book, HPatPoA.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Voldemort might have been Dumbledore's animagus form. Just sayin'...**

* * *

The people in the Great Hall were treated to a very unusual sight on Saturday morning. First, Harry Potter and his friends, known around the school as the Golden Trio, had walked in. That in itself was not very unusual, but what happened next was. A giant black dog had run in beside them, and hadn't even paused before running straight to the Slytherin table and jumping on Draco Malfoy. It was extremely funny to see Draco Malfoy, the Ice Prince of Slytherin, being slobbered on while yelling for someone to "Get this bloody oaf off of me!" All in all, it had not been a very normal morning.

* * *

Harry was mortified. He knew that Snuffles was going to attract some unwanted attention as it was, but he didn't think that it would be this bad. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Dumbledore, who had decided that now was a good time to intervene.

"Mr. Potter, whose dog is this? And where did he come from?"

"Oh, this is Snuffles. He's my new familiar."

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall interrupted "The only animals allowed at Hogwarts are toads, rats, and cats."

To this Hermione replied "Actually, that list is only for first and second years. Third year and above are allowed a wider variety of familiars, as both they and their magic are mature enough for the added responsibility." She finished, quoting the rule word for word from _Hogwarts, A History_.

"Well, that is true, but he has attacked a student, so I must insist you return him to wherever he came from." Dumbledore said with a smile that was almost a smirk.

"Snuffles was just saying hi. And since Malfoy doesn't appear to be injured in any way, and I highly doubt that a dog jumping on him could be a cause for emotional or mental distress or scarring, there is no legitimate reason for me to get rid of Snuffles." And with that, Harry turned on his heel and walked over to Gryffindor table, where he was quickly joined by Snuffles.

* * *

Any sniggers in Draco's direction at the Slytherin table were silenced by a quick glare. Draco smiled to himself, it was good to be the ice prince. Truth be told, he wasn't really all that embarrassed, he was actually intrigued. If Dumbledore had been hiding the fact that they could have bigger familiars from the students, what else could be hidden? Maybe he could find a friend for Snuffles…

* * *

Harry looked up at the staff table, which had one empty seat. "Hey Hermione, have you seen Professor Lupin in the last few days?"

"No, I haven't… I wonder if he's ill… this is the second time he's disappeared for days in the past two months…" Hermione replied, her brow furrowed deep in thought.

"Maybe he's got a disease or something?" Ron offered

"A disease that makes him disappear once a month?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

"Well you never know, maybe he's a werewolf!" Harry joked.

"That could be it!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Wait, what? I was just joking around Hermione-" Harry was interrupted by an excited witch.

"No, a werewolf would fit him perfectly! He's been disappearing once a month, and comes back looking like he was hit by a truck, that thing that he was most afraid of in class must have been the moon, and…" Hermione opened her bag and brought out her homework planner "Last night was a full moon." She finished triumphantly, with Snuffles wagging his tail and woofing his agreement. "Harry, could Ron and I come along to your next anti-dementor lessons to ask him?"

"Sure, though I doubt he'll admit it, even if he is a werewolf." After this, Snuffles started barking at him. "Sorry, boy, do you want something to eat?" Harry asked before giving the dog in question some sausages from his plate.

* * *

On Wednesday, Harry and his friends had defence class, and were definitely looking forward to it. As soon as he and Snuffles entered the classroom, they were greeted by a tired looking Professor Lupin, who looked up and did a double take when he saw Snuffles. "Harry, can I speak to you after class?" He managed to choke out, before being tackled by a mass of black fur. Snuffles was very happily, for lack of a better word, snuffling Lupin, who seemed like he was fighting back tears. 'Maybe he's allergic to dogs,' Harry thought before sitting down.

After class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed after until their classmates were gone. It was Hermione who spoke first "Professor Lupin, we were planning on asking you a few questions later this evening, but this works too. I don't mean to be offensive, but areyouawerewolf?" She said, saying the last bit in a blur.

"I'm impressed, Hermione, you just set a record for fastest to figure that out." Professor Lupin smiled a bit.

"Actually, it was Harry who suggested it, I just put together the facts." Hermione blushed, as she did whenever receiving praise from a teacher.

"Congratulations, Harry, Prongs would be proud."

Harry's heart nearly stopped "Prongs?"

"It was your father's nickname back in school."

"My father was Prongs?" Harry asked, amazed "Wait a second, are you Moony?"

It was Lupin's turn to be amazed "Yes, Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail before he passed on, and… Sirius Black was Padfoot. How did you know?"

Harry quickly pulled out the Marauder's Map "This. The Weasley twins gave it to me. I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map opened. "This map has helped me out a lot this year-" Harry started to say but then turned pale "Why does it say that Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew are in this room?"

Lupin said some very unteacher-like words and started casting "Accio Pettigrew!" Ron's rat zoomed out of his pocket, still snoring. "Animagus Revelio!" Harry watched with fascination. _**It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upwards from the ground; limbs were sprouting; next moment, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands.**_ The next moment, Snuffles started doing the exact same thing, except with no spell on Moony's part. After a moment, Sirius Black, the escaped convict, was standing in his place, glaring at Pettigrew with murder in his eyes. Ron promptly fainted.

"R-Remus, S-Sirus, my best f-f-friends-" Pettigrew started to stutter.

"Shut it, you rat bastard. How could you? James and Lily trusted you! And then, you blew up the fucking street and killed those muggles! Bloody hell, you're just a giant piece of LIEING DEATH EATER SHIT!"

Before Sirius could finish his rant, Moony cut in "Peter, we trusted you. I've half a mind to let Sirius at you, but if I did that, he really would go to prison for murder! Stupefy! Incarcerous!." He finished, the traitor dropping to the ground and being tied up in ropes.

"You're all insane!" Harry yelled, gaining the attention of the two marauders. "You expect me to believe this crap? You're the reason my parents are dead!"

"No, I'm not. Pettigrew was the one who revealed James and Lily to Vol...Voldemort. I was put in prison for murdering him, and he's obviously alive, so either I did't do a very good job or I'm innocent." Serious explained rather... seriously. "Besides, if I were going to hurt you, I would have done so by now."

The Gryffindor in Harry thought this was an acceptable explanation, so he decided to point out the blatantly obvious. "Could we please show someone that Sirius is innocent? I personally don't trust that if someone came in and saw him that they would stop and listen to our explanation."

"You're right, Prongslet," Sirius smiled

"And as long as we are going to prove your innocence, we might as well have a little fun." Harry reasoned as he thought out loud.

"You've got an idea?" Moony asked.

"Yep. Here's what we'll do…" Harry smiled. It was really quite fun, letting his Slytherin side out. Maybe he should do it more often…

* * *

**A/N: MUAHAHAHAHA! I'm evil. By the way, the reason that Remus didn't freak out and attack Sirius was because he's smart. Can you imagine the panic that would ensue if Sirius Black showed up in a room full of children? Also, he would have realised that if Sirius was going to hurt Harry, he would have done so by now. Obviously, he knew that something wasn't adding up. Add that to the fact that Pettigrew was alive, he realised that Sirius was innocent. I promise I'll update soo-oon, bye!**


	6. Marauders and Patronuses

**A/N: I know that my timeline is off, but I decided that Harry would be receiving lessons from Remus much sooner than in the books. Also, I made Halloween on a Sunday instead of a Saturday, so now you know that it wasn't a mistake, it was very much on purpose. By the way, by my calculations, only 0.47% of the people reading have left a review, so please, please, please review!. Even just a sentence or two helps me get in writing mode, and that helps me update sooner. **

By the time that they had enervated Ron and brought him up to speed on things, it was nearly dinner time. Harry barely had enough time to pen a note to Draco informing him of what had happened and send it with Hedwig before they had to go to dinner. So after a very eventful day, the Golden Trio, accompanied by 'Snuffles', walked down to the Great Hall and began to eat. The only unusual thing that anyone outside of the group would have been able to observe was the fact that Snuffles was sitting up on the bench at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Hermione. Halfway through dinner, however, their normally quiet defense professor burst through the doors, levitating a short fat man bound in ropes.

"Dumbledore, I do believe that we have a rat infestation in the castle." Remus said calmly with a voice made of steel.

McGonagall gasped, quite clearly upset "Remus, is that who I think it is? No, it-it can't be…"

"Yes Minerva, I'm afraid it is. This is Peter Pettigrew, the Potters' real Secret Keeper."

"But that would mean that Sirius Black… is innocent," Dumbledore said flatly "And that, my boy, is impossible. Black was tried and convicted of-"

"No, Dumbledore, I assure you, you are completely wrong." Remus interrupted " I've been doing some research lately, and you know what I found? Sirius Black was never given a trial, just arrested under suspicion, which means that he was never convicted." He stated, and with a wave of his wand Pettigrew's left sleeve was torn clean off, putting his dark mark on display for all to see.

"I shall alert the aurors immediately of this new development." McGonagall stated firmly, getting up from her seat and heading towards the doors.

"I shall come as well. This news is quite… upsetting, and the ministry might not believe it right away." Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes completely gone

'More like he wants to make sure that the ministry thinks he's the one who captured him' Harry thought sourly as the two professors walked out of the hall. "Well, that was interesting," He said blandly to his housemates before continuing eating. After a couple of bites, the people around him gasped and some of them started screaming as the the dog next to him transformed into Sirius Black himself.

"Oy, Harry, pass the pumpkin juice?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," Harry replied, handing the aforementioned item to his dogfather.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Harry had managed to keep his calm. That calm was shattered when the doors burst open and dementors started floating in, coming straight at Sirius. No, they couldn't kiss him, not when he was almost a free man! The dementors were getting closer now, he could feel them sucking out his happy thoughts, a woman's voice started screaming… No! Not now, not like this. Harry went through his happy memories again, but only one really stood out. He thought of how he felt when Sirius tackled Draco for the first time in his dog form, how light and carefree he had felt then, and yelled "Expecto patronum!" A large silvery panther came out of his wand, snarling at the dementors and swiping his paw to keep them back. When the panther turned towards him, he gasped. It had deep silvery grey eyes, he had seen those eyes somewhere before… they looked just like Draco's! Suddenly, the wall he had built around his emotions for the last few hours fell, and waves of joy, fear, anger, and relief all flooded him at once. It proved to be too much for him, and he promptly fainted.

Harry woke up and stretched, reaching for his glasses. When he put them on, he was confused. What was he doing in the hospital wing? Had he gotten into another quidditch accident? Wait a second… Sirius! His eyes widened as he remembered what had happened in the last few hours. Then Ron and Hermione walked in.

"Harry! Thank goodness you're awake, you had us so worried!" Hermione said, before giving him a bone crushing hug. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need us to call Madam Pomphrey?"

"Let him breathe, 'Mione!" Ron cut in, and Hermione immediately blushed and let go.

"I still can't believe you made an actual, corporeal, patronus Harry! That's N.E.W.T level magic!" Hermione continued.

"Hermione, I know. You've only told us a hundred times." Harry rolled his eyes before continuing "How long have I been unconscious? Where's Sirius? And Professor Lupin?"

"It's 8:07 A.M. You slept through the night. The reason we're here is because all classes are cancelled today due to what happened last night. Sirius is in auror custody, his trial is in a couple of hours." Hermione said

"Why is he in auror custody? Isn't Pettigrew being alive enough proof for them?"

"Well, just because Pettigrew is alive doesn't mean that Sirius is innocent in the eyes of the Wizengamot." Hermione stated, and then blushed at the glare she received from both of the boys "He was still accused of a crime, and needs an official trial to be declared innocent or guilty."

"That didn't stop them the first time around." Ron muttered under his breathe.

"Ron… that's true." Hermione admitted quietly.

"Then what's going to stop them from doing it again?" Harry exploded angrily "Adults hate admitting it when they're wrong."

"But what can we do?" Hermione asked defeatedly.

"We have to go to the trial!" Harry proclaimed "Well, they'd have to allow me in. Just think about it. Not only am I part of the 'victims'' family, but I'm also his godson. What legal basis do they have to keep me out?"

"Well, yeah, that works for you, but how would Ron and I get in?" Hermione asked.

"I'm perfectly within my rights to bring along my friends for support, aren't I?" Harry asked with a perfectly innocent smile.

"That's brilliant mate!" Ron exclaimed "And you're the Boy-Who-Lived, so they couldn't bloody well say no!"

"Language Ronald! C'mon, let's go tell Dumbledore that we're going!" Hermione said practically as they all stood up. "Who knew that you were so Slytherin, Harry." Hermione remarked as they walked out of the hospital wing. Harry had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing. 'Only those I allow to see it.' He thought wickedly.

**A/N: This chapter took me foreeeever to write! I'm so sorry for the delay, but I just had writer's block. Review and tell me what you think!**


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